Mallet Collection

The Mallet Collection is a unique and fascinating
collection of 18th, 19th, and early 20th century works
on French Canadians, Franco-Americans, and
Native Americans**. These materials comprised
the personal library of Major Edmond Mallet (1842-1907),
a Franco-American Civil War veteran from Oswego, N.Y., who served as Inspector General for Indian
Affairs under President Grover Cleveland.

This collection of 6,000 items incorporates
materials relating to the French exploration and
settlement of the New World, as well as rare
documents relating to Native Americans. The
dichotomous nature of the collection reflects
the two primary interests of Major Mallet: his
French Canadian heritage and the integration
of New World settlers with existing Native
American settlements.

L'Union Saint-Jean-Baptiste d’Amérique, a society dedicated to Franco-Americans and French-Canadian ancestry, acquired the collection in 1913, six years after Major Mallet’s death. In March 2004, the U.S.J.B., now part of Catholic Family Life Insurance, transferred the collection to the Emmanuel d’Alzon Library at Assumption, where it now resides on permanent loan.

**Here, the term "French Canadians" refers to people of French descent, living in Canada. "Franco-Americans" refers to people of French or French-Canadian descent, living in theUnited States.
"Native Americans" refers to indigenous peoples of North America.